Another One Down!

Following the lead of Barrett (also), STI has now decided to stop selling anything to the state of California. As many of you already know, California recently brought out their "Microstamping" law. The following is from Dave Skinner, STI's Commander-In-Chief.

On the "flip side" of states� laws, we have California! As you know, we let all of our DOJ listings lapse several years ago. We also stopped selling to CA law enforcement agencies in the same time frame. We did, however, continue selling to individual officers, who could get their agency to approve, for (IPSC, IDPA, etc.) sporting purposes. Now we have more even MORE onerous restrictions on the general populace? No more! We�re sorry! We�re done! No guns! Nobody! �Nuff said!

Thanks to Larry Correia for the tip.

Arnold Schwarzenegger - Waste of Space

Forgive me, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth...

We need to start a campaign, ala Ronnie Barrett, to get all gun and ammo makers to boycott the state of California. I'm serious, this crap has to stop! What an idiotic piece of work this bill is. Only in California could this POS bill become law. I already knew Arnold was a RINO, this proves it once again. Way to go Arnold, you worthless excuse for a governor! If I had owned any movies with him in them I'd take them outside and burn them.

Gov. Schwarzenegger Signs Landmark Legislation to Solve Gun Crimes

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct 13, 2007
PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law cutting-edge legislation that will provide police with an important new tool in solving gun crimes and apprehending armed criminals and gang members. AB 1471 passed both the Assembly last spring and the State Senate last month.

"We applaud Gov. Schwarzenegger for taking a bold step to solve gun murders in California. This ground-breaking law gives police officers a powerful tool to apprehend armed criminals and gang members before they strike again," said Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke. "The Governor has set a new national standard for the rest of the country to follow."

The Crime Gun Identification Act will require that all new models of semi-automatic handguns sold in the State of California starting in 2010 be equipped with technology to allow police to match bullet casings found at a crime scene to the handgun that fired the bullets. This technology, known as "microstamping," consists of engraving microscopic characters representing the make, model and serial number of a handgun onto its firing pin and other internal surfaces. These characters transfer onto the bullet shell casing when the handgun is fired. In instances of drive-by shootings, where the only evidence at the crime scene may be a casing from a fired bullet, law enforcement will be able to quickly obtain a critical lead.

Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-42), a former Los Angeles City Councilmember who recognizes that law enforcement needs more tools to combat gang violence, was the author of the bill. It was supported by the California Police Chiefs Association, the Orange County Chiefs' and Sheriff's Association, the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), and the Los Angeles Police Protective League, in addition to 65 police chiefs and sheriffs throughout the state.

Kay Holmen, the President of the California Brady Campaign Chapters, said, "Nearly half of all crimes go unsolved in our state. Microstamping technology will provide our police officers with solid leads for finding armed criminals before they do more harm. This new law will allow our police to trace the crime gun -- without the gun."

Microstamping Redux...

Firearms Industry Citing 'Flawed' Technology Urges Senate to Reject Microstamping Bill

Newtown, Connecticut -- With the California Senate poised to take up AB 1471, legislation which would mandate the use of an unreliable, easily defeated, patented, sole-sourced technology to microstamp firearms, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) -- the firearm industry's trade association -- is calling upon lawmakers to heed the warnings of experts. The move by NSSF comes on the heels of a recently released study by the University of California at Davis that proves the technology -- called firearms microstamping -- is "flawed" and "does not work well."

The U.C. Davis study, which concluded, "At the current time it is not recommended that a mandate for implementation of this technology in all semiautomatic handguns in the state of California be made. Further testing, analysis and evaluation is required," was initiated at the request of the California legislature.

Firearms microstamping is the patented process that laser engraves the firearm's make, model and serial number on the tip of the gun's firing pin so that, in theory, once the gun is fired the information is imprinted onto the discharged cartridge cases.

"The U.C. Davis study confirms an earlier study on firearms microstamping," said NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane, referring to an independent, peer-reviewed study published last year in the professional scholarly journal for forensic firearms examiners. That work proved that microstamping firearms was unreliable, did not function as the patent holder claimed and could be easily defeated in mere seconds using common household tools.

Though researchers at U.C. Davis have stated that "more testing in a wider range of firearms is needed to determine the costs and feasibility" of mandating microstamping, the California Assembly pushed through the legislation earlier in the year by a vote of 44-29, largely along party lines.

A similar bill (AB 352) failed last year over concerns about reliability, cost and the fact that it is a patented sole-sourced technology. The patent holder, New Hampshire-based ID Dynamics and its owner Todd Lizotte, have been aggressively lobbying the legislature to pass AB 1471, despite opposition from the firearms and ammunition industry and law enforcement groups such as the Peace Officers Research Association of California and the Orange County Sheriff.

"The U.C. Davis study and earlier peer-reviewed research only serve to further validate our longstanding concerns that this technology is unreliable, that it simply does not work as advertised and can and will be easily defeated by criminals in seconds using common household tools," continued Keane. "We encourage the California Senate to do the right thing and reject this bill."

For more information on the facts concerning microstamping, please visit:

NSSF Backgrounder on U.C. Davis

NSSF Backgrounder on Krivosta - AFTE study

NSSF Backgrounder on Microstamping Costs

NSSF Backgrounder on Microstamping and Crime

Microstamping Part Deux!

It seems that lawmakers are once again trying to revive the failed technology long trumpeted in California. Only this time, they're trying to do it at the national level. I had hoped it would have been dropped since it has been proven to be too costly and too easy to defeat, but that is not the case.

Criminals could defeat microstamping with simple hand tools, sand paper, replacement firing pins, revolvers, picking up their brass, reloading, collecting and then planting other peoples brass...if I've forgotten any, please let me know.

From the article:

"Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., arranged for Friday's demonstration in a basement firing range in the Rayburn House Office Building. He and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., are crafting a microstamping bill that aides said has law enforcement support.

"A month ago we saw the reason we need to take action," Becerra said, referring to the Virginia Tech massacre April 16."

"There are ways we can reduce gun violence in America in a smart way, in an effective way and a way that doesn't infringe on anyone's personal ownership rights," he said."

...clicky...
So he's seriously stating that microstamping could have/would have somehow magically stopped Cho from killing 32 people? What kind of twisted logic is that?

What is this guy smoking, because I want some!

It doesn't help either that he has paired himself with "The Frogman Of The Chappaquiddick" in an attempt to get his failed technology/ignorant legislation rammed through congress. Why is it that most gun control legislation is written and/or cosponsored by people with a (D) after their names?

Let's hope this dies a quick and painful death.

Many thanks to Ride Fast and Shoot Straight